The recent experience of unemployment claims tells the tale. The Economic Policy Institute found that for every 10 people who successfully filed for unemployment benefits, three to four additional people tried to apply but couldn’t get through the system to file a claim, and two more people did not even try applying because it was too difficult. The need for better systems to satisfy people’s needs became obvious.
Benton Institute
November 20, 2020
Stacker’s slideshow takes a look at how the minimum wage has changed in your state in 2020. A variety of sources were used including the Economic Policy Institute’s Minimum Wage Tracker, the NCSL’s website, and inflation-adjusted wages calculated using the CPI calculator.
Register Citizen
November 20, 2020
As the Economic Policy Institute’s Heidi Shierholz explains,
Another 1.1 million people applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits last week, including 742,000 people who applied for regular state UI and 320,000 who applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The 1.1 million who applied for UI last week was an increase of 55,000 from the prior week’s figures. Last week was the 35th straight week total initial claims were greater than the worst week of the Great Recession.
Ad Age
November 20, 2020
According to research by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) the shortage could reach 200,000 by 2025, up from 110,000 in 2018. They say this shortage is due to a number of factors including pay and working conditions. Local districts are covering classrooms with the help of other staff.
WDTN-TV
November 20, 2020
People of color, for example, who were underrepresented across almost every industry prior to the pandemic, are now facing higher rates of unemployment compared to their white counterparts, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute. In other words, the pandemic has exposed deep-rooted vulnerabilities in the workforce and has underscored the need for policies that will promote a fair and even recovery.
Fast Company
November 20, 2020
While the financial and job woes facing many Americans have deepened during the pandemic, the phenomenon is nothing new, he said. In January, when the job market was at a 50-year low, Ludwig’s “true rate of unemployment” was 23.5% — or about seven times higher than the Labor Department’s official jobless rate at the time of 3.6%.
Approaching unemployment through this lens is “super interesting,” said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Examining the job market by looking at different buckets of people — like those who are unable to find a new job versus those struggling to earn above a poverty wage — can help policymakers develop approaches geared to each group.
At the same time, the labor market “just isn’t delivering” for many workers, she said, adding, “It’s good to have an idea of the scope of that.
CBS Moneywatch
November 20, 2020
More than a dozen progressive groups are pushing Biden to stock federal agencies with people who favor their domestic policy agenda. The Progressive Change Institute, the Center for Popular Democracy, MoveOn, Public Citizen, the Sunrise Movement, the Economic Policy Institute and other left-wing groups sent a list of 400 names to the Biden transition team recently.
Bloomberg Government
November 20, 2020
When the coronavirus pandemic started spreading across the country in the spring, nearly a quarter of all young workers — defined as ages 16 to 24 — lost their jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute. One in four young people just starting out in the workforce had their futures put on hold indefinitely. And they’re not alone: Axios in October reported that the “true unemployment rate” for Americans of all ages is over 26%.
Business Insider
November 20, 2020
When I read Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute about the grimness of December for those on claims who are losing their benefits tell us about what’s coming in December. Well, it’s an unappreciated aspect of all this, most of what the CARES Act produced is going to expire on December 31st, including that extra emergency 13 weeks that I was just talking about. The pandemic emergencies goes away December 31st, also the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance which has 8 million people on it now that’s for gig workers and the self-employed that goes away on December 31st.
Bloomberg Radio
November 20, 2020